The paving slabs are woven of my thoughts
The coloured threads combine to make this grey
Which I contemplate as I walk along
Not looking up
Don’t look up

On my laptop screen I marshal my ideas
Set down in reports, on graphs, as slides
Presenting them in Powerpoint
I stand behind the facts
Don’t stand out

When the sun comes out I stay inside
Protecting my pale unlovely skin against its malignancy
And the casual glance of the passing stranger
Covering up
Don’t shine out

At social events I mumble and glide
Slipping out of the grasp of awkwardness
As I fail to hold on to anything but the weather
Listen, don’t speak
Don’t show up

In the corner of the spare room
I am fully engaged
With things that might have been
But slipped away
Don’t dream